The 10 Best Muscle-Building Moves Of All Time

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If you want to build big muscles, you’ll need the right diet, discipline, and a few key muscle-building moves.

To add bulk, you need to year your existing muscles so they can grow stronger and larger. Here are a few basic tips about gaining muscle:

Lift heavy weights

Do fewer reps with higher weight and/or intensity

Do multi-joint exercises

Avoid too much cardio (it expels energy needed to build muscles)

Work multiple muscle groups

Eat more food, especially protein, to use as fuel

Avoid plateauing by challenging yourself

Work these rapid muscle builders into your routine.

Bench Press: Chest

The bench press is easily accomplished with a weight bench and a large barbell with weights or two dumbbells held in either hand. Be conservative with the amount of weight you lift if you don’t have a spotter. A bad slip on the bench press can easily tear the muscles in a very bad way.

Pull-Ups: Back

Traditional pull-ups rapidly build muscles in the back and arms using the weight of your own body resistance. Once you’ve mastered pull-ups, wear leg weights to create more of a challenge.

Vertical Press: Shoulders

With a weighted barbell or a set of dumbbells, start with your arms facing forward at the chest and lift the weights vertically in to the air. Complete the vertical shoulder press with high weight and fewer reps to rip shoulder muscles.

Hammer Curls: Biceps

To work your biceps with hammer curls, stand with your arms at your sides and barbells in each hand. Curl upward for a few sets, using high weight. Then switch your upward movement: twist your palms toward the ceiling and repeat the exercise.

Squats: Quads And Glutes

Squats build muscle tone in the quads, the mass of muscles that make up the upper legs. First, stand with your knees bent, keeping your chest and head tall as you hold a barbell in both hands. Raise the bar above your body, and rest it behind your head and shoulders. Keep your chest tall as you balance and squat. This exercise is best executed on a squat rack for safety’s sake. Always bend with your knees, not with your hips!

Standing Raises: Calves

Use a calf-raising machine or stand with your feet on the edge of a step for some standing raises that work calf muscles fast. After you find balance on the balls of your feet, begin to raise the heels up and down and feel the burn of resistance in your calves. If you don’t have a machine, add dumbbells or weight to your shoulders to intensify the exercise.

Captain’s Chair: Abs

The captain’s chair is a device commonly found at the gym that works abs fast. First stabilize your upper body and arms in the chair. Next, raise your knees to your chest without arching or swinging. Complete this motion for a few sets of up to 16 reps. For a challenge, straighten your legs and do this exercise without bending your knees.

Romanian Deadlift: Hamstrings

The hamstrings – located at the back of your legs – are a tricky muscle to work, but with Roman Deadlifts you’ll strengthen their abilities. Start by placing a barbell with weights on the ground in front of you. Keep your back straight and head facing forward, then bend to pick up the bar in both hands. Lean slightly back with your hips to raise your body into a standing position. With the barbell and arms at your sides, hold. Release slowly and repeat.

Dips: Triceps

Grab a chair and take a seat at the edge. Place one hand on either side your body on the edges of the chair. Lift your butt from the chair with your hands, and stretch your legs straight. Raise your body above the height of the seat. Use your arms to dip down and then back up again. Repeat sets if necessary.

Lunges: Quads

Lunges require balance, so keep the weight moderate when you begin this exercise. Hold dumbbells in each hand with your arms at rest on either side of your body. Step forward and lunge long creating a 90-degree angle with your front knee. Don’t extend your knee beyond your foot. Switch legs and repeat.

Amber is a creative writer who practices qi gong and traditional Japanese martial arts techniques that date back to the samurai (Jinenkan). She founded The Oracle’s Library indie publisher of Philosophy and loves to share her curious passion for mind-body-spirit topics, natural remedies, and good health practices with others.